GCAA gets new Director-General

The president in consultation with the Council of State and the Ministry of Transport has appointed Ghana’s Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Simon Christopher Allotey as the new Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), effective October 1, 2015.

Aside being the Representative to ICAO, he previously served as chairman of the ICAO’s Communications Navigation Surveillance Sub-Group for the Africa Region, and was also one of two Africans to be appointed to the ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission since 2011 until his current appointment.

According to a statement from the GCAA, prior to his appointment, he had previously served on the ICAO Council in 2009 and as the Acting Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation from 2006-2009.

He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Henley Management College, UK and BSc (Hons.) and Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Mr. Allotey, has over 33 years post-qualification experience in engineering systems design, aeronautical telecommunications, maintenance and in corporate management.

He brings on the job unique and diverse technical and managerial skills through challenging job schedules in the tough mining industry, crude oil refinery and in the aviation industry where he has more than 19 years of experience.

He began his aviation career in 1996 as a Deputy Director of Engineering and rose to become the Director of Engineering between 1999 and 2005, a period which saw massive improvement in the GCAA’s navigation, communication and surveillance systems including the installation of voice communication, radar systems, etc.

By dint of hard work and dedication to the industry he was appointed the Acting Deputy Director-General (Technical) in 2005 when the position became vacant with the responsibility of overseeing the GCAA technical division, including Air Traffic Service, Engineering, Safety Regulation and the Projects Department and also assisted the Director- General in the day to day administration of the Authority.

Mr. Allotey’s vast experience in the aviation industry coupled with his excellent managerial skills and affable nature contributed to his appointment as Acting Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation which he served from 2006-2009 with additional responsibilities of overseeing the activities of the newly created Ghana Airport Company Limited in 2007.

The new Director-General had stints with various companies in and outside the country including Tema Oil Refinery, Ghana National Manganese Corporation, and Fernsprech and Signalbau GmbH, in Germany where he started his career as an intern.